To the Editor:

Thank you for your March 2, 2023, article, “‘Big for the site’ mixed-use building proposal for Western Avenue.” I do not feel good about the behind-the-scenes work on this permit.

I believe this permit application is another way low-middle income people are unable to have legal redress. Western Avenue lots lacking setback land are too small for the dreams of mixed-used builds.

To recognize the return on investment of future business builds perhaps we need to address additional land-use acquisition as a requirement.

Guilderland, in my opinion, is losing its way and the town board and zoning board are now made worse by Jacob Crawford joining Peter Barber in their jumps from the zoning board to the town board.

The history of decisions by Peter Barber and Jacob Crawford in their stints on the zoning board, in my opinion, have harmed the town in ways none of us could have anticipated. We were busy living our lives and raising our families.

I am sending you my letter to the town because other neighbors need to know how important it is that we must lose time away from our homes and families to observe the actions of the appointed zoning board members and the uncontested candidates among the town board.

Here is my letter to the town board, zoning board, and building administrator regarding the mix-use proposal by Chris Laviano:

Westmere is a neighborhood that appears to be, based upon a lack of code enforcement and recent notice-of-defect letters, a disenfranchised neighborhood in terms of political connections and priorities of residents.

We are a group of lower-priced homes, non-English-speaking residents, disabled, low-income, and mixed residents — it is hard to be represented and considered when builders and developers and business owners have clout that we will never achieve ….

Please do not allow the special-use permits to take away the front setbacks nor the side setbacks. We need the setbacks to protect each other.

We deserve the same right to safety that the new apartments on Carman Road were given with the public sidewalks and other permits that have come before the town.

We need the town board to hold [building inspector and zoning administrator] Ms. [Jacqueline] Coons responsible for arbitrary and capricious interpretations of the code which cause financial harm to residents by causing them legal bills which is a tactic used to further disenfranchise those without the means for lawyers.

We, as a town, have a problem with the Laviano permit request. First, Mr. Laviano has informed me that Ms. Coons and the town have already approved the application and worked on with internal town staff (beyond the planning board).

Indeed, this appears to be truthful upon reading The Altamont Enterprise article, which says, “[Guilderland Town Planner Kenneth] Kovalchik told [planning board Chairman Stephen] Feeney that was also correct, but said the way Jacqueline Coons, the town’s chief building and zoning officer, interpreted the code was to incorporate a proposed lot-line adjustment for the currently-zoned R15 service alley running behind 1855 to 1869 Western Ave. as part of the future development.

“‘So this is: Once the new lot-line amendment is approved, this will be the new lot line,’ Kovalchik said. ‘It won’t be to the service alley lot line, it’ll be to the northern prospect line.’

“Under the current site plan, the new building would be about five feet from the boundary line with the service alley; however, with the lot-line amendment being proposed, the service alley would become part of the proposed development, adding another 20 feet of buffer between the proposed building and the Kent Road residential neighborhood. 

“Feeney disagreed with how the project was being presented to the board, with a future lot-line amendment already incorporated into the calculation of the buffer needed between differently-zoned districts: Two of the project parcels are located in the town’s Local Business (LB) District, for which town code requires a 40-foot buffer between it and a residential district, while the other parcels are part of the Business Non-Retail Professional (BNRP) District, for which code requires a 20-foot buffer between it and residential zones.”

Christine Duffy

Guilderland